


Every Other Freckle

by barghest



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Canon Autistic Character, Disabled Character, M/M, Teenage Drama, Trans Character, gay as fuck, idk theres drinking and typical teenage things, its pretty safe??????, u bet lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 21:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7591342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barghest/pseuds/barghest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Highschool junior Jesse McCree needs a prom date.<br/>New student Hanzo Shimada needs a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Other Freckle

**Author's Note:**

> named bc the alt j song i listened to for most of writing this  
> goddamn this is long i am sorry lmao i wrote this instead of updating my other fic  
> dedicated to hu who listens to me cry abt mhanzo every day
> 
> written in an ???? epistolary format, i guess. consider it like a mental journal of jesse's, which is why his voice is neverin speech marks. characters will likely as not be ooc. hope you enjoy anyway o/

AUGUST 4TH  
T-Minus nine months until Junior Prom. Otherwise known as Jesse "Babyface" McCree's last chance to secure himself a hot date for the summer, and maybe for the entirety of senior year. So far, he's been back in school for three hours and things aren't looking too promising.

Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison are back at each other's throats. The basketball/hockey/every other sport Gabriel plays vs. football rivalry has apparently ramped up over the summer to the point that he manages to successfully pull out of gym class "sick" without a note, the teacher waving him away, apparently too enthralled with Gabriel's tirade over how too much funding goes to football.

"Shouldn't even be called football," he complains at lunch, adding possibly an illegal amount of hot sauce to his flimsy cafeteria burger. "They carry it in their hands most of the time. Should call it handball." 

Jesse can only nod sagely in agreement. He's only on Gabriel's good side because they are on the hockey team together, and one time Jesse accidentally smashed Gabriel in the mouth with a hockey stick - a delight to the older boy, apparently, who spat blood and laughed and clapped Jesse on the back. Gabriel was an enigma, to be honest. Off the field, as close to a goth as one could get without the copious amounts of belts and tripp pants, moody and rude. On the field, a wheel of death who brought homemade snacks to practice and openly talked about how great owls were. Weird.

Not that Jesse has much room to talk. His western drawl - only intensified by the deepening his voice had undergone over the summer - had made him a hit in last year's drama production of 'Annie Get Your Gun'. This had been most advantageous, meaning that he could pretend the resurgence of his childhood love of cowboys was just play research. Hopefully no one would comment too much on the cowboy boots he had chosen to show off in school today, quietly proud of how they hugged his calves.

"Are those cowboy boots?," Satya, a sophomore girl easily spotted thanks to her blue tinted glasses and matching nail polish, had asked at the end of lunch. "You look like an idiot." Harsh.

It was probably a good thing he isn't really into girls, because they sure weren't really into him. Hopefully all have forgotten the disastrous incident of last year's Homecoming Dance when he had asked the hand of one Angela Ziegler from the grade above to be his date, only for her to gently remind him she was a lesbian in a committed relationship. Who was also the chair of the small, but close knit, LGBTQ club, which she had been instrumental in forming. Not exactly the smoothest of moves.

The problem, then, lay in the fact there is kind of slim pickings in the eligible gay bachelor department of his school. Reyes and Morrison were out of the question - their 'bachelor' status was only due to the fact neither of them could admit they were essentially in a relationship with each other. All summer, Genji's Facebook had been littered with snaps of him with a cute boy Jesse didn't know - getting sushi, going swimming, throwing peace signs in the queue to see the new Captain America movie - so it was doubtful he was still single. The freshmen didn't really look too promising either. 

And now he was sat all alone in English, the only one without a partner. What a fantastic start to the year.

AUGUST 8TH  
Partner problem solved, at least in English class.

Arriving early had given him the chance to scope the classroom for any new faces as they trickled in - and it hadn't been long before a boy he had never seen before had taken the empty chair beside him. Broad shoulders, a little short, long hair, the beginnings of a moustache clinging to his top lip - really cute, if Jesse is honest. (Is he really so desperate that he's checking out every young man to come within his line of sight? Possibly. Most probably. Yes, in fact.)

"My name is Hanzo," the new kid is soft when Jesse prompts him for his name, voice too high to have broken yet. Must be a late bloomer. "I am sorry I missed the class last week, I have just moved here." He seems reluctant to engage at first, but Jesse is patient, willing to draw it out of him if necessary. First of all, Hanzo is a cute name. Like the guy in Kill Bill?

That makes Hanzo snort a little, and he draws his hoodie around himself more, "I suppose so, if that makes pronunciation easier to grasp." A tough nut to crack. Jesse is delighted, frankly. If nothing else, he gets a partner for English this semester that's pretty and knows Quentin Tarantino movies. And has yet to mock him on his choice of footwear.

"I must say," Hanzo whispers whilst the teacher passes out their reading list for the year, "you look silly in those boots." Damn.

AUGUST 8TH (LATER)  
It seems Hanzo has several classes with him. A gift!

Jesse sits with him at lunch, trying to squeeze information out of him without seeming too pushy or invasive (a hard task). Where's he from? What school did he go to beforehand? Is he aware of Taco Tuesdays at school, which are possibly the culinary highlight of the week? Hanzo is not exactly forthcoming, quietly picking away at his packed lunch, but he doesn't seem too put off by Jesse's humour. There's hope for them yet.

"Are you really still wearing those ridiculous things?," Satya drops her books across from them on the table, looking down her nose at the pair of them. She'd be cute, Jesse thinks, if she was less rude. Scratch that, she is cute - and apparently kind of oblivious to the twenty or so sophomore boys who lust after her on a regular basis. Maybe she doesn't know. Maybe she doesn't care. Either way, she's truly a gem.

"Jesse was telling me he's a fan of the Wild West," Hanzo nods his head in greeting to her, moving his own books out of the way so she can put her food down. "I was not aware there was so many Clint Eastwood films."

"Huh, I thought the cowboy thing was just for the play." Damn, busted. They both look to him, and he can hardly play this off as extended research. So what if he enjoys those kind of films, alright? A Few Dollars More is a cinematic masterpiece, and he won't hold back on that. Somehow it gets them off his back - for the moment, at least.

Hanzo seems to find talking to Satya easier than talking to him. Damn.

AUGUST 17TH  
Homecoming posters are already going up. Admittedly they are just to choose what the theme is - but really, the theme should just be sports, right?

It turns out that Hanzo plays sport. Or, rather, Hanzo plays one sport and one sport in particular. Archery. And he's terrifyingly good at it.

It seems this year the gym teachers for the juniors have given up all hope early on of trying to convince their students to care about conventional sport. If you do, by this point you're probably already on a team for it. Everyone else just doesn't want to get involved any more, and they are merely showing up for the credits. So, the teachers are taking things in a new direction. Last week, they decided to just let everyone walk round the athletics track and pretend to be doing sports. This week, they are trying out archery.

"If I had known in advance, I could have brought my own bow," Hanzo seems almost sad about it, difficult as it is to get emotion out of him. He seems to light up when engaging in the sport, though, and is quick to impress so much that the teachers just give him his own target rather than having to share with four or five other students. It brings him out of his shell, that's for sure.

Jesse spends altogether too much of the lesson staring at Hanzo's muscles, admiring the fluid motions of the guy's arms as he looses arrow after arrow. 

"I used to compete," is all Hanzo offers in answer for his skills. He refuses to elaborate, and Jesse feigns a sore hand just to sit down and watch him some more. All in all, it's a pretty good lesson. The teachers consider letting archery continue for a couple more weeks, given everyone's enthusiasm. In the back of Jesse's mind, he wonders if Hanzo likes boys.

AUGUST 26TH  
"What are you doing tonight?," Hanzo asks him at the end of English. Jesse's heart does a little flip. "I need help with an assignment, if you could spare the time." Another, slightly smaller cardiovascular flip.

They go to a Starbucks after school, the coffee shop full of other students readying for the weekend. Jack Morrison is hosting the first big house party of the year tomorrow, and it's going to be a good one - new pool out back, access to his dad's liquor cabinet if they promise to behave and restock it afterwards, the inevitably of Gabriel punching Jack in the mouth (first, with his fist, and then, with his own mouth). Hanzo shakes his head when asked if he's coming.

"I won't know anyone," is his first excuse. What about Jesse? And Fareeha, who seems to have become his history buddy? Hanzo shrugs. "I suppose I will know some people, then. But it's not really my thing. I've got work to do." Work can wait. It'll be fun. "I need to catch up." There's all of Sunday to do that. "Maybe another time." One can't say Jesse hasn't tried.

They work on the assignment - algebra, not exactly Jesse's strong point - for an hour or so, before it crawls to completion. Hanzo is quietly grateful, and insists on paying for Jesse's coffee, despite his protests that his meagre earnings from his summer job is enough to cover a couple of grande cappuccinos with a ridiculous amount of hazelnut sauce. Hanzo waves Jesse's words away, bobbing in gratitude as he leaves for home. If he had known Hanzo was so willing to cater, Jesse should have ordered muffins too. Damn.

SEPTEMBER 1ST  
Gabriel almost knocks out a freshman trialling for the hockey team. It was an accident, of course, and the kid pretty much just bounces back up off the astroturf, giggling away with a split lip and a black eye. His name is Jamison, but apparently he's insisting everyone in his science classes refer to him as Junkrat. No clear idea why, so far. Seems a nice kid, if a little hyperactive. Comes part and parcel with a hulking behemoth who's taller than Jesse and can't possibly be fourteen, but is apparently so. They seem to understand each other the best, so the guy gets to hang around for practices, if Jamie wants to come on the team. (He very enthusiastically does.)

Hanzo has been sick from school for a couple of days. Jesse would call and check on him, but he's not gotten the boy's number yet. Damn.

SEPTEMBER 2ND  
Trawling Facebook leads to interesting finds. It appears, if what Jesse has found is correct, that Hanzo is Genji's older brother.

A late night search leads him to the only Hanzo he has any mutual friends with, and that Hanzo seems to share a surname with one little sophomore twink who this week decided it'd be cool to dye his hair green. Of course, maybe they're cousins. Maybe they aren't even a relation at all - Jesse has to admit he knows nothing about Asian surnames, so maybe Shimada is a particularly common one in Japan? Like Smith is for white people. Or Jones. 

It seems a little too much of a coincidence, though. He'll have to investigate further. But not at two in the morning.

SEPTEMBER 6TH  
Hanzo returns from whatever autumn illness was plaguing him, and Genji confirms Jesse's suspicious - Hanzo is indeed his older brother. Older than suspected, as well.

"He should be a senior, but he missed a year, so he's with you guys," Genji shrugs when asked the exact reason. "Dunno why, think it was illness. He doesn't live with us." Who does he live with? "By himself. He's eighteen, so. The apartment's our auntie's, but she's living in Hanamura right now so she's letting him have it. It's pretty cool." Sweet deal, living on your own. How come he's not come up in conversation before? Again, Genji just kind of shrugs. "Never been asked, I guess. Wanna see pictures from this weekend? Me and Zenyatta went on a hike, it was cool."

SEPTEMBER 14TH  
The Homecoming Dance theme has been chosen! Wild West. A blessing, if nothing else.

Hanging out after school in coffee shops to do work has become a regular thing, for him and Hanzo. It's nice - and peaceful, too, just sitting there and working side by side. Cracking awful jokes at times. Hanzo rolling his eyes every single time, as well. Tough crowd.

He gets round to asking about Genji, and Hanzo proves just as enigmatic, "we haven't really hung out in a long time." Why, though? "I don't get on well with our parents." Ah. Jesse doesn't push at that. His own mom walked out a few years ago, taking his sister with her and leaving for god-knows-where in Texas. Last year, he had caught up with Lorena over Facebook, but they didn't really have much in common. She didn't think much of their dad - but, honestly, neither did he.

Perhaps it's time for a more important question; is Hanzo attending the Homecoming Dance? "Maybe," Hanzo is harder to unlock than a hay barn in a thunderstorm, "we will see closer to the time. I might have too much work." Always with the work. Jesse has to admire his dedication. Maybe if he had the same drive, he wouldn't have such a crap GPA.

SEPTEMBER 30TH  
Jesse "No Mixer" McCree is, to put it colloquially, off his face.

The hockey team stormed to victory in a mini-tournament with local schools. Junkrat is a whirlwind with a stick of wood in his hands and even more of a menace when he's in goal, gangly limbs and prosthetic leg encased in layers of foam. He takes a hockey ball to the face (fortunately protected by a caged helmet and a mouthguard) rather than let it in goal, and whoops in excitement. They destroy the competition. Jack is in the audience and follows Gabriel back to the locker rooms, where they stay far longer than the rest of the team.

Buoyed with their success and loaded with fake IDs, some of them manage to score beer, hauling ass over to Gabriel's house for an after party. Half an hour in and the football team has shown up, laden with red cups and vodka and the proposal of a massive game of beer pong in the back yard. Rather than beer, they play with shots - and Jesse steps up to the plate, eager to get Jack Morrison and his football cronies smashed. Unfortunately, said football cronies are a lot better with aim than he is.

He's retired to the front steps outside Gabriel's house, a bass-boosted version of the Macarena quaking the building behind him, a crushed red cup at his feet and his phone in his hand. Hanzo gave him his number yesterday, after Jesse was late to a coffee meet up and Hanzo thought it best if they can warn each other in advance next time, just in case. Hanzo's eyes had gotten so big when he'd been worried, even if it turned out to be for a stupid reason. God, Hanzo had pretty eyes.

He should tell Hanzo that, in case the boy wasn't aware.

"Um, thank you, Jesse," Hanzo is sober at the other end of the line and his voice cracks a little mid-sentence. Is his voice finally breaking? That's really cute, if Jesse is honest. "Are you drunk?" Maybe. Just a little bit. Only a smidgeon. "If you say so. Do you want a ride home?" No, but he does want to know, why does Hanzo always change in a stall? Is he afraid Jesse's going to stare at his legs? "Um." Jesse bets he's got really lovely legs, like his arms are lovely. "Jesse." All of Hanzo is lovely, if he's honest. He wants to hug Hanzo so much, but he'd have to bend over because Hanzo is so small and cute. "Jesse, I. I have to go." Oh, okay. That's alright. Just remember, how lovely Hanzo is. Jesse couldn't ask for a cuter friend, if he's honest. "Good bye."

Wait, did Hanzo offer him a ride? Damn.

OCTOBER 1ST  
Regret. Pain. Stomach convulsions.

He sends an apology text, just in case. Hanzo doesn't reply.

OCTOBER 4TH  
"You are forgiven." More saintly words have never been spoken. Hanzo doesn't make eye contact at lunch, but his voice sounds honest enough. Jesse fiddles with his shirt sleeves, trying to find the words to make things better, to make up for being so rude at the weekend. "It's alright." Even someone as daft as himself is aware that he must have caused some kind of upset - he cringes when he remembers the things he said. He had been very intrusive. "It is in the past, Jesse, it is okay to let it go." What if he doesn't want to let it go? "Don't wallow in misery," Hanzo looks up at him for the first time all day and there's a warmth in his eyes. "I am over it, for the most part. Let's just get on with things."

OCTOBER 12TH  
Jesse waits for Hanzo to finish getting ready for gym class, the rest of the boys already clear of the locker room. He is patient - and then he is surprised, when Hanzo steps out of the shower cubicle he changed in, trackpants hiked up to reveal braces on both of his lower legs.

Hanzo is shyer than usual when he speaks, "I, I have cerebral palsy." He struggles to go beyond that, and Jesse nods - maybe a little too enthusiastically - in an attempt to display understanding. "It is hard to show my legs." They are still nice legs (Jesse splutters a little, then apologizes). He can feel his face reddening in embarrassment, but somehow Hanzo doesn't look upset or appalled - in fact, for a brief moment, his lips curl up a little into a smile. The smallest flash, and then he is rolling his pants back down, all business again, hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail.

"Thank you for not laughing," his voice makes Jesse's heart do those little flips all over again, "I knew I could trust you."

OCTOBER 14TH  
It is the night of the Homecoming Dance and Jesse is in bed sick, a hot water bottle snuggled up next to him and a pack of tissues within reach. It's fine, he supposes, he's got a whole series of Hell On Wheels to catch up. Who needs a stupid dance?

"I would have thought I would see you at the dance tonight," Hanzo calls him just after seven, distant music and the whoops of sports teams betraying his location, "particularly with the theme." Jesse appreciates the call all the same. It makes him smile, a lot more than he's willing to let on. "Satya is complaining that she expected you to line dance your way in wearing spurs, or something. I am not sure what line dancing is." Ah, Satya, always full of jokes at his expense. 

They chat for a bit, just tossing gossip back and forth - Jack and Gabriel have had another serious argument, circling the dance floor like sharks tonight, refusing to come within ten feet of each other. Genji brought his boyfriend, and they seem to be having a lovely time. Apparently there was supposed to be hay bales, but these were removed as a health and safety hazard - which, by the sounds of it, Satya is most displeased about. She would have wanted hay, apparently. For the authenticity.

"You were missed at school today." Who by? "A few people," Hanzo is ever cryptic. Quietly, Jesse hopes one of those 'few people' is him, but he daren't not ask, just in case he is disappointed. "I'll bring you your homework." How kind! Someone to bring an ailing man not grapes, but more fucking work. That elicits a snort from Hanzo.

By the time he hangs up, a whole episode of Hell On Wheels has passed. Somehow, Jesse doesn't mind.

OCTOBER 15TH  
"You had a friend call round last night." What? When? "Must've been about nine or something. You were asleep." Dad. "What, you were." Dad! "I tried waking you, but you were out cold. Probably needed it." Goddamn. Who was it? "Some Asian kid with long hair, brought homework for you or something." Goddamn. God. Damn.

OCTOBER 20TH  
Hanzo comes to watch their hockey match. He sits a little apart from everyone else on the bleachers, hands folded quietly on his lap, eyes following the action closely. Jesse runs into an opposing player by accident, attention turned up the stands to where Hanzo's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and bemusement.

"Head in the game, McCree!" God, the ref is a nerd. 

Maybe he should just give in, and ask Hanzo on a date. It's all he can think about for the rest of the match.

OCTOBER 31ST  
Halloween falls on a Monday this year, and the school begrudgingly gives the students permission to dress up. The hallways are a nightmare to navigate - without getting fake blood on everyone (Jesse's costume of 'vampire cowboy' is a little sticky, to say the least) - but the atmosphere is great, to be honest. For once, there are no fights. The drama kids are being normal kids. Gabriel looks like he is dressed as an owl, but is telling everyone he is the Grim Reaper. (No one believes him.)

What's Genji dressed as? "Cyborg ninja!" Cute. Genji does a twirl with his cardboard katana in hand. Cardtana. "Zen helped me with it," he beams, hair still greenish in colour under his helmet.

Junkrat comes dressed as one of the characters from the newest Mad Max film, bare chest and all, and almost immediately gets sent to the nurse's office. There's a lot of arguing and a lot of yelling and eventually he shows up to second period in a baggy white t-shirt, which he proceeds to graffiti all over with black marker. When the class ends, he's drawing a fiery skull on the back.

Jesse doesn't see Hanzo all day. He has to admit, he's a bit worried. Just a little. Concerned for a friend, is all. 

"Maybe it's not a good idea to just go round and visit him unannounced," is what Genji says, when Jesse approaches him about getting Hanzo's address. "Just text him or something, he's probably fine." Three texts and four missed calls, and he's not answering. Genji is resigned. "Your funeral if he gets mad at you for being some kind of stalker, man."

It's not a hard place to find. Little apartment block a few streets from school. He sneaks in the front door after an old lady and her dog, and takes the stairs two at a time. No one answers when he knocks on the apartment door. Jesse puts his bag down, so he can keep on with the knocking. He's just concerned for his friend, that's all.

"Jesse?" Hanzo is stood outside the next door over, a basket of laundry in hand. Oh, shit. "What are you doing here?" Um, what does it look like? Being a friend. A friend who spent all day wondering where his friend was, and texting him, and generally looking like an idiot in front of everyone because of it.

Hanzo invites him inside and it does a good job of shutting him up.

They sit on the floor for most of the evening - Hanzo has mostly traditional Japanese furnishings, and he does offer they sit on chairs but it seems rude not to be all multicultural in Hanzo's presence. They drink a lot of tea and Hanzo makes him laugh with tales of the neighbours and suddenly it's half past nine on a school night, there's a half empty cup of tea in his hand, his knee is up against Hanzo's thigh as they sit watching some bad TV show and chat over the top. Hanzo's eyes are soft when they look at him and he's fairly sure that a smile is just lurking under the surface. He should kiss him. He's so close, he could kiss him.

He doesn't.

Hanzo gives him a ride home, apologizes for keeping him late, promises to be in school tomorrow. All night Jesse stares at the ceiling in his room, thinking about Hanzo's fingers brushing his when he reached for the remote. 

NOVEMBER 8TH  
Three weeks have gone by and finally Gabriel and Jack make up. Long enough for the hockey and football teams to have tacos together at the same table at lunch. They shuffle about without complaint when Jesse beckons Hanzo over to sit.

He's still not kissed Hanzo. Or even tried to. What a dork, being so afraid to kiss someone.

NOVEMBER 11TH  
They skip gym class (today: dodge ball, otherwise known as class warfare led by Jack and Gabriel) to sit by the small pond that's tucked behind the science classrooms. It's too cold for any fish to be out, but dry enough to throw a sweater down on the crisp grass and waste time. Hanzo doodles in his notebook under the pretence of doing work. Maybe dragons are his favourite animal. Cute stuff. The clouds are slow overhead, threatening to rumble.

Why doesn't Hanzo still compete at archery?

"Hm?," Hanzo hardly looks up, engrossed in his drawings. His thigh is warm when Jesse turns his head to look up at the other boy. The fabric is comforting against his cheek, and he almost forgets to repeat the question, lost in the moment. "Oh, I don't know. The school doesn't have an archery team or anything," Hanzo puts his pen down for a moment, and his eyes are so brow today - brown like old, warm leather. The wood of log fires and proper dark hot chocolate, burning Jesse's fingertips a little through the mug. They make him think of lying in bed on a Saturday, not obliged to move, comforted by an embrace. Something, something, soft pillows and softer voices and the softest thing of all, someone else close, trusting. Oh, god, he's finally done it. He's finally gone the full gay.

"What are you looking at?" Jesse has to snap out of his reverie. Looking at nothing, just thinking. Technically it's not a lie either. What if Hanzo started a club? Hanzo snorts at that, shaking his head and turning back to his drawings, "I'm no teacher." They return to their quiet, but he holds onto the idea - of sleepy mornings, another human being's warmth, making Hanzo laugh into his hand. And an archery club.

NOVEMBER 15TH  
"Archery club?," Satya turns her head on the side a little, frowning a little behind her glasses. "I would be interested, for certain." One person down.

NOVEMBER 17TH  
Gabriel and Jack have an Altercation. Jesse makes the mistake of stepping in with the intention of helping out, only to end up at outside the principal's office with a bloody nose and Gabriel staring moodily at the opposite wall. He has to cancel a 'study date' (his choice of words, which elicited a snort of derision from Hanzo, but otherwise no protests) over text.

"That's alright, we can do it another day, troublemaker. Try to take care." Jesse wants to save that message forever.

NOVEMBER 23RD  
They visit a new coffee shop to try out the seasonal drinks. Satya and Mei tag along at first, but it's not long before they have to leave, drifting away with a string of excuses that Jesse barely listens to past saying he'll see them tomorrow. He's on his third peppermint swirl mocha and it tastes pretty weird, but he's going to keep ordering them if they keep Hanzo sat opposite him. Hanzo is reluctant over the archery club idea, but Jesse pays for green tea (a palate cleanser) and as many of the tiny overpriced pastries as Hanzo desires, so he is swayed into staying seated.

"I don't know if the school has enough equipment," Hanzo likes the tea flavoured treats the best. Pastry fish the size of a large sushi roll, each with a different crème filling, decorate a plate in front of them. "Besides, have you thought about interest? What if no one would want to do it?" Oh, there's interest alright. Jesse has hassled every recognizable face by the lockers all week, intent on drumming up curiosity in his pet project. Satya was the first of many - and she had spoken to her small group of friends about it, huddled away in the corner of the library where they had found some books on archery to show Jesse. He had to admit, he had mostly flipped through them excitedly, staring at the pictures.

Hanzo frowns down at the pastries, biting into one thoughtfully, "I am still not convinced. You could be telling me tall tales, Jesse." He loves the way Hanzo says his name, even in reprimand. There's something so gentle about it, the way Hanzo shapes it. His dad talks so different, putting too much emphasis on the end as if to draw it out.

"Is there even a teacher interested in it, as well?" Hm, well, he hadn't thought of that, to tell the truth. "I'd like to see interest on paper, Jesse, before I think about committing to your idea." There's the slightest hint of a smile on Hanzo's lips and that is all the encouragement he needs.

DECEMBER 8TH  
He has a list!

"Jesse, this is all your own handwriting. I don't trust it," Hanzo tucks it back into Jesse's textbook, before straightening up behind his desk. "A nice attempt, though." There it is again, the spark - that's going to light the log fire he imagines whenever he looks into Hanzo's eyes. No, a bonfire. A blaze.

He is even more determined.

DECEMBER 17TH  
Hanzo brings sake to Fahreena's birthday party, intriguing rather than repulsing everyone. He confides in Jesse under the dim glow of the moon in Fahreena's mom's back garden that the latter response was his biggest fear of the evening. It was a risk bringing it, sure, but it has paid off! No one is upset by it. Fahreena is thrilled, honestly. She is keeping the empty bottles.

The coffee table is freed up midway through the night and Jesse sends plastic cups flying in his attempt to dance on top of it, the surface slippery beneath his feet. It's Hanzo who tries to pull him down, gently taking Jesse's hands and trying to guide him down safely - but he wants none of it. His arms find their way around Hanzo's waist (eliciting a gasp in his ear, Hanzo's stubble scratching his cheek), and they are dancing together on the table, Hanzo's feet planted on Jesse's for support, Hanzo hanging on for dear life to his waist. They bump against each other, but he's no longer wildly spinning - Hanzo is holding him to one spot, Hanzo is caught between telling him off and laughing, Hanzo is laughing. Hanzo is laughing! Safe in his arms. Laughing. He won't let them fall.

DECEMBER 18TH  
Jesse wakes on the couch, groggy, warm, a sweaty hand tangled in his hair. Hanzo doesn’t stir, a string of drool connecting his lips to the collar of Jesse's shirt. He doesn't have it in him to move. Not just yet.

DECEMBER 24TH  
They are drinking tea and watching some low budget martial arts film when he asks, what is Hanzo doing tomorrow?

"Hm? Oh," Hanzo shrugs. "Nothing in particular. I was intending on making a start on all the homework I have been putting off for so long." There is an unspoken blame in his words - Jesse knows he has been the utmost distraction. He prides himself on it. But homework, on Christmas? Never. Not permitted. Banned, in fact. It is fully illegal to do homework on Christmas.

Hanzo raises an eyebrow at that, "well, what else am I meant to do? I may as well do something with my day." Outrageous, simply outrageous. He talks his way into staying the night because of it, under the pretence of keeping vigil that Hanzo does not touch his homework all of Christmas day. Hanzo does not make much of a protest, head on Jesse's shoulder as the next episode starts.

DECEMBER 25TH  
One of the local Chinese restaurants is open, the insides quiet enough for them to snag a table without waiting. It's an unconventional Christmas dinner for sure, but he doesn't mind.

"What about your family?," Hanzo asks after they order drinks. Jesse can only shrug himself in reply. Dad's out of town, so what was he going to do, mope around at home? Not likely. "I suppose that's a fair enough reason." They pay for the buffet and keep the conversation light, but there is certainly a distance in Hanzo's eyes.

Does he miss Genji, and his family? Hanzo looks into his plate, "I suppose I do." His face falls a little, and Jesse doesn't fight the urge to reach out across the table and offer his fingers to hold Hanzo's in comfort. There is not resistance as their hands link together. "I am doubtful about it happening, though." Don't lose hope, though. There is always a chance of rebuilding whatever ties might have been there before. He doesn't want to dig, of course, but he wants Hanzo to believe that it cannot be entirely irreparable, right? It earns him the slightest twitch of Hanzos' lips. "I suppose so. There is plenty you don't know, Jesse." That doesn't mean he is any less hopeful for Hanzo.

"What if I was a bad person?" How bad could Hanzo be? He is still in school, after all. There are no federal agents crawling all over the school gym, no pictures of him on the news. Jesse finds it hard to believe that Hanzo could be a bad person, honestly. "Really?" Maybe a person requiring work, but all people require work. He himself requires work, hard as that seems to believe. Hanzo chokes on a laugh.

"You are very kind," Hanzo looses his hand and reaches for his paper napkin, and he can see now the beads of water in Hanzo's eyes, clinging to his lashes. He gives Hanzo time, all the time he could need. "I don't know what I must have done," he clears his throat a little, and Jesse almost opens his mouth to speak, "to deserve you, as a friend." Existed, honestly. That is all Hanzo has to do.

The streets are empty and they hold hands all the way back to Hanzo's home. As they reach the front doors of the apartment block, it starts to snow.

JANUARY 1ST  
Satya comments on how close Hanzo stands to Jesse when they watch the New Year's fireworks from the window of a house party. She doesn't seem to pick up on their hands, tucked into Hanzo's hoodie pocket, fingers intertwined. 

JANUARY 10TH  
Junkrat finally emerges from his winter break hideaway with a broken leg, and Gabriel is the opposite of thrilled - until Junkrat argues his way into goalie gear and everyone has to gingerly avoid his left side. It's the first time Jesse talks to Junkrat's friend, Mako - the kid who honestly cannot be fifteen. If anything, it exacerbates things when the boy opens his mouth and speaks with a voice deeper than most of the seniors.

"I tried to talk him out of it all week," is his explanation for Junkrat triumphantly limping back to goal after smashing the hockey ball to the other side of the field, "but Junk does what Junk wants." Kid of few words. He offers Jesse cheese puffs as they sit on the bench, watching the practice game. "Glad to see him having fun, I guess." Mako's favourite animal is pigs, it seems. They flick through photos on his phone for the remainder of the game, most of which involve Junkrat posing enthusiastically with animals at some kind of winter show.

Hanzo is there after practice to walk with him to the coffee shop, even as the rest of the team follow them. Gabriel tries to wrangle them into a team meeting, but gives up as he takes a list of drinks and a handful of change up to the till. He comes back with pastries, "the guy behind the till is that Zenyatta kid. Isn't he your brother's friend?"

"Mhm," Hanzo nods in acknowledgement, and Jesse watches him closely for signs of Hanzo faltering, but none come forth. "He seems nice." Gabriel nods, and the conversation moves away. Under the table, their thighs touch gently as Hanzo leans forward to join the conversation - Jesse finds it hard to hide his pride.

FEBRUARY 13TH  
Genji approaches Jesse at lunch, "I kind've wanted to thank you, man." What for? "For like, chilling with my brother and stuff. Being his friend. He hasn't really got a lot of them, you know." No need to thank - but Genji's smile is warming, kind of like a version of Hanzo's that burns a little less bright inside Jesse's chest. "I'm glad he's got someone looking after him, alright."

Later he realises he could have questioned Genji about what happened between Hanzo and their family, but it's too late now. It's after school and he has finally cajoled Hanzo into approaching one of the gym teachers about an archery club. Well inked sheet of paper in hand, he marches a mildly protesting Hanzo up to the door of the gym class staff room.

They are in luck - as Fahreena's mother (an occasional teacher) answers the door, immediately raising her brows, "and what could I do for you two?" Hanzo would like to propose a sports club. "Would he, now? Would he like to speak for himself, Mr. McCree?" True, that is very true. Jesse pipes down for the rest of the impromptu meeting, only offering encouraging smiles when Hanzo looks his way, unsure of how to progress with his proposal. They tour the equipment store with Fahreena's mom, who insists they call her Ana, that she's seen them all drunk enough times for them to not bother talking to her like a teacher. She surveys the equipment with Hanzo, picking through the room as Jesse waits at the door.

"Hmm, I believe we could do with a refresh in here, don't you think?," she pulls a few targets away from the wall, tutting quietly. "I'm sure we can make an application to the board for a bit of funding, you know. They're always complaining we don't make much of an effort to differentiate from other schools. How much archery have you done before?"

This last question she directs at Hanzo, who looks at the floor before answering, "I used to compete, with my previous high school."

"Oh? At what level?"

"State," he tries to push it off as something casual, but Ana is not going to let it go.

"We have a star among us, it seems," she beams at him. "You are full of secrets, Mr. Shimada, it seems." Her voice softens a little, "there's no need to go about putting yourself down, then. You will do a wonderful job. Shall we see about funding?"

FEBRUARY 14TH  
Jesse jokes that it's a date. Hanzo doesn't complain enough for him to rescind the comment, even as they are stood in the middle of the playing field under a smattering of rain, a solitary target occupying his eye line. Hanzo has tried to instruct his stance verbally, but now he moves closer, fingertips brushing Jesse's elbows as he tries to adjust him.

"You're holding it like you're holding a gun," he bustles around Jesse, frowning all the time, hair pulled back tight in a ponytail. "The bow is an extension of yourself. It's something natural." A weird, fleshy extension? "More like a joint, with tendons." Creepy. "Straighten your arm." 

Maybe he has spent a lot of time sat down recently next to Hanzo, but the inches between them in height always surprises him.

"Eye on the target, not me," Hanzo reaches up to tap his nose, expression irritable - he can't help but smile at that. "I said, eye on the target, Jesse. I thought you wanted to know a little archery so you could show off?" True. He looks at the little coloured circle, trying to follow Hanzo's instructions. Keep his arm straight. Don't waver. He lets the arrow go, watching it whistle through the air.

It misses the target, sailing over it by a good foot.

"An improvement," Hanzo is behind him, standing on his tiptoes, leaning up to place a small kiss on his cheek.

FEBRUARY 20TH  
He tries to kiss Hanzo whilst they catch up on a TV they started watching together over winter break. Hanzo shies away, embarrassed in exclaiming that he doesn't think he's ready, that he doesn't want to yet. That's alright, they can just keep watching the show - he retracts the arm that's round Hanzo's shoulders, but Hanzo pulls it back, leaning into his side.

"Don't move," his head falls onto Jesse's shoulder, "I was comfy."

MARCH 2ND  
Junkrat's leg is (apparently) healed. Hanzo is growing the world's slowest beard. It is the archery club's first training session and Jesse is busy trying to console Hanzo in the men's locker room, who has taken one look at the assembled club members outside and had to bite his hand in an effort to hold back a surge of emotion.

"There's so many of them," is all he can manage, sat on the bench, fiddling with his hands. All here to learn about archery. Also, there is only really a few of them. Fifteen at the absolute most. Barely a classroom full. Did Hanzo not bother to read the list he had procured? "Yes, but I half expected them all to be lies, all the same." Well, they're here now, and they want to learn how to fire a pointy stick at a circle in the middle of a field.

Hanzo lurches upright at that, and he half expects a slap across the face - but instead Hanzo clumsily presses their faces together, his mouth against the corner of Jesse's lips. In all the romance novels and the poorly written teen fiction he pretends he doesn't like, this is why there's fireworks and sparklers and a 4th of July just happening all up inside of him.

And then Hanzo is gone, out the door with his bow in hand. Jesse stands there light headed, lips still creased from Hanzo's touch. The books got it all wrong. He can't think of the words, but it's definitely something better.

MAY 12TH  
T-Minus nine minutes until Junior Prom.

Hanzo had asked him, before he could even begin to think about it. How could he even fathom saying no to the person who brought him green tea before class and hit his shoulder gently when he made a bad joke - and had touched the scars gently on his chest, never asked if he regretted it, never asked what his name had been beforehand, had only curled an arm round him and murmured that he would look good with tattoos.

"Knowing you," Jesse could hear the smile in Hanzo's voice, "you would get crossed revolvers. Or a cowboy hat above a saddle." Never anything of the sort! A tasteful little horseshoe on his hip, thank you very much. Hanzo hadn't seen it yet, but maybe prom would be its debut. (Maybe. Hopefully. He was wearing nice boxers today, after all.)

There's a cherry blossom tree outside of Hanzo's apartment complex, which is probably the most awfully stereotypical thing he can imagine, especially when the taxi pulls up and there Hanzo is, waiting for him beneath the pink flowers. Jesse can see petals in Hanzo's hair (unintentional, surely). He doesn't tell him straight away, just so he can pick them out when they arrive, leaning in close.

"You are a terrible flirt, Jesse," there is warmth in Hanzo's voice. It sets alight the bonfire in his heart again. "If I said my legs were being of a particular pain today, would you carry me?" In a heartbeat - it is worth it for the yelp of surprise from Hanzo, who only relaxes when it's clear he isn't going to be dropped. Arms still round Jesse's neck, he berates him all the way up for the path for his recklessness. Jesse just laughs.

 

"Are you wearing those cowboy boots?," the door is open ahead of them and Jesse is dreaming of slow dancing, Hanzo balancing on his feet again, when Hanzo leans in to kiss him softly, "you look good in them."

**Author's Note:**

> SIKE i listened to a bass boosted version of ocean man for most of this
> 
> ACTUAL NOTES: ok so!! i know its been confirmed by overwatch team that hanzo just has leg armour and 'delicate ankles' but i dont listen to that bc delicate ankles my foot, just say he has a disability, blizzard, its ok, we can fuckin take it. i dont bring it up mmmmuch in the fic bc i am tryin my best to not mess writing it up. i also allude to jesse being transgender, but i didnt bring it up much bc its not important to the overall fic tbh. also everyone is gay, get over it. and satya is the canon autistic character, if you were wondering!! one of the early comics confirmed it. and this is a generic americentric highschool i guess, bc who cares abt uk or aussie highschools (the only other two i could write) lmao.
> 
> again, sorry its so long. i hope you enjoyed it tho. thanks fo gettin this far!!


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